California Whale Watching

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The Whale's Struggle for Survival

Who doesn't enjoy whale watching? It's one of the most fun things you can do and if you're in the right location you don't even need a boat. The long coastline of California offers many sites where whales can be seen swimming by.

The Pacific gray whale population had been devastated almost to extinction from commercial hunting. Today, the gray whale is under both national and international protection. It's because of this protection that people today can have the enjoyment of watching these whales travel on their annual path up and down the west coast of the United States.

Monterey Bay coast

The most common, although there are other visible species, are the sightings along the California coastline of the Pacific gray whale. Whales are truly remarkable mammals. They breathe in air to live but they also spend a small amount of time above water. The whale will surface and will exhale and then disappears once again into the sea. The wonder of whale watching remains the same since the first whale was sighted. During the early years, the whale was seen as a commodity. Something to be hunted and sold. Whale oil was used in the early lanterns and for town illumination. It was also used as candle wax. Whale oil was extracted from the mammal's blubber. Whale oil was also used in paints and to help make margarine. There was so many additional uses for whale oil it is a wonder that the specie survived to this day.

According to the National Park Service information about whales, the gray whale was not a popular target for many whalers. Their oil was considered of poor quality. Right whales and bowhead whales were the preferred specie, but as their population declined and the price of oil soared, the gray whales were hunted. An adult gray whale still could yield up to 25 barrels of oil that sold at $45 per barrel. The NPS also pointed out that whaling stations sprang up all along the migration route on the California coastline. As if this wasn't enough, there were also advances in whale hunting technology such as the "explosive harpoon". These were also known as "bomb-lances".

Jaw of Pacific Gray Whale at Pt Reyes Visitor Center

The Pacific gray whales have the longest known migration of any mammal. The whale travels up to 12,000 miles per year round trip. They move from the warm waters off of Mexico to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic Seas.

Some Excellent Land Sites to Whale Watch

For those wanting a chance to espy a whale from shore there is one particular site, and there are many, which is off the Monterey Peninsula in California about a two hour drive south of the San Francisco area. Monterey is known as one of the best whale watching areas for this reason. The ocean off Monterey California and Monterey Bay is a natural marine habitat. In fact, the water is so deep just off the coast at this location that the area is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific Ocean. The depth reaches close to 5,800 feet. These submarine canyons, and there are several within this larger one, extend from shallow waters of the continental shelf to the deep sea and contain a very wide range of habitats and because of this an incredible diversity of organisms.Among these are the Pacific gray whale. The Monterey Submarine Canyon allows deep water species such as whales and dolphins to appear very close to shore. The town of Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula is just one of those sites. Not only can you take in a great view of the entire Monterey Peninsula coastline but you'll also have a chance to see the whales spouting offshore. The place to look for in Pacific Grove is Lover's Point, a very relaxing and grassy area. To be sure, there are also several excellent whale watching cruise tours offered from Monterey harbor and they are worth taking.

You'll also find the following two Western Trips articles with photos interesting. The Carmel Mission in beautiful Carmel California and the historic Santa Cruz California Boardwalk.

Monterey CA whale watching trips

Another excellent location is Point Lobos State Park which is just a few miles south of Monterey on Hwy 1. The Point Lobos Reserve is filled with marine life, including whales, seals, sea lions, and sea otters, I have been to this site several times and it's for not only whale watching but also for bird watching.

Moving further south on the California coast, Channel Islands National Park offers good whale watching opportunities. Here the waters are filled with many diverse and beautiful species of cetaceans including whales whales, dolphins and porpoises. The Channel islands are in the Santa Barbara Channel just off Santa Barbara California. Similar to Monterey, there are several whale watching charters available on the Santa Barbara Channel. To get a closer view some people whale watch from their own boat however there are strict rules in place regarding whales and boats. The Marine Mammal Protection Act mandates that boaters must stay at least 100 yards away from whales unless the whale chooses to approach the boat.

Still further south is the Cabrillo National Monument. The Cabrillo National Monument lies at the tip of the Point Loma Peninsula which is west of the city of San Diego. The best months for whale watching off of the west side of Cabrillo National Monument is from December to March. The most common specie sighted here is the Pacific gray whale.

Big Sur CA coastline

For those looking for good whale watching sites north of San Francisco, Point Reyes National Seashore offers many excellent whale watching locations. Again, many different whale species can be observed at Point Reyes although the most common is the gray whale. Every January, Pacific gray whales pass by the headlands at Point Reyes as they go south from their summer feeding in the Arctic.

A bit north of Point Reyes is Bodega Bay California. This is the charming coastal community made famous decades ago in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds". Bodega Bay is a tourist and fishing community and offers a very good site for whale watching. West of the town is Bodega Head which juts out into the Pacific. There are hiking trails, a small beach and picnic areas. Many people drive to Bodega Head with their binoculars and often do spot whales. Bodega Bay is about 25 miles west of Santa Rosa California and about a two hour drive north of the Bay Area.

Still further north on the California coast toward the Oregon border is Redwood National Park. Redwood National Park is also a California State Park. The redwood tree areas are really a combination of parks, both state and federal. Officials with both the state and federal parks organize whale watching activities usually during March.The site to view whales is at the Klamath River Overlook.

Pacific Ocean and beach north of Bodega Bay

More detailed information about these activities are updated on their website. Redwood National and State Parks are located off of Hwy 101 about 325 miles north of San Francisco and 50 miles south of the Oregon border. Park Headquarters is in Crescent City, California.

The whale watching sites listed above are only a small sample of available whale watching locations. There are several more in California both north and south as well as up the coast into Oregon and Washington state. If you are able to, you do want to bring your binoculars along. There are also boat tours available in many California coastal towns such as San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Diego and many others.

(Photos are from author's private collection)